These pictures are patterns that I found when I originally started this project this year which I stored in my sketch book.
They come from a huge variety of sources, ranging from islamic art, decks of cards, wood carvings, and computer generated patterns.
The website Pinterest I found very useful when looking for different unknown artists works especially with computer generated patterns. I felt that by having this at hand, as well as an online sketch book in the form of my own pinterest account I could keep a large array of different patterns to refer to at a moments notice.
I can even create patterns by sketching when I don’t have access to my computer this way by storing it on my tablet and taking it with me, so I can always create new sketches and patterns while on the go.
I created more drawings earlier in the year in order to experiment more with the different symmetry, shapes and styles that would ultimately feature in my cut outs.
The drawings I found were hugely helpful as they gave me an outlet to refer back to when looking for different pattern ideas, when they were originally inspired by different patterns themselves.
I also created 2 types of collage to refer to. One being a series of different patterns that I found in a number of different newspapers, magazines and leaflets that I found interesting to look at and that might be an addition to my work
The second collage was a colour chart, also collected from a number of different sources. This was to look as how the different colours interacting with each other, if they contrasted or coordinated to help how my paper cuts would ultimately clash or collide once layered upon each other,
I went searching through Ipswich for different patterns which caught my eye, looking at garden gates, churches, materials that have just caught my eye and fireplaces.
These I chose to photograph as I thought the patterns were interesting, or the shape. Churches and gates in particular caught my interest as the gothic style that was very used in the past has always had beautiful symmetry and linear stylizing, whilst ranging from simple to incredibly complex.
This wasn’t only present in metal in those cases, but also in stone work on the church itself, in fireplaces around the edges and patterns on the glass of the windows of the buildings too.
I recently visited Smith’s Row in Bury St Edmunds again to view the exhibition ‘Machines to Crystallize Time’ by CJ Mahony and Georgie Grace
On the front of the Exhibition it is written that: ‘The exhibition brings together their interests in contemporary states and immersive experiences which they create via built spaces through language and on screen’
The Artists built this exhibition just for Smith’s Row, ranging from Large scale sculptures, structures and projections to smaller scale structures and drawings.
I found the way they used light and video project to create silhouettes very intriguing as it reminded me of Kara Walker’s caricatures which take on the appearance of silhouettes and also her work with video and light projection.
This is something that I would be interested in doing to my own work, which I have experimented with in the past.
An interesting Idea would be to create a large scale paper cut suspended from the ceiling with light shining through with the viewer directly underneath interacting with the work.
I experimented with layering my larger cut outs with solid pieces of colour, using square shapes, negative space cut outs, pieces I had cut out that were scrap and also manipulating how the paper could move instead of laying flat against a surface.
The colours I used I moved around to see how they made different areas of the cut out patterns stand out and disappear almost completely. What was also interesting was the way the colours reacted against each other when interacting with other primary colours.
I have been quite wary about manipulating the paper patterns too much as the black layer of paper is much thinner than the rest due to a very small availability of paper. I feel it works quite well though, creating the different shapes and bumps and I feel that interweaving smaller pieces of paper through out to create a 3-D effect could be very interesting.
By using the negative space cut outs it also gives the whole piece a bit of a separation and 3-Dimensionaility which wasn’t apparent before. I feel it does this by making it appear less flat and also creates more shapes.
I’ve put together the larger piece with the Green and Pink piece and made it almost like an installation, it flows from one to the other quite seamlessly due to the solid pieces of paper underneath and I feel it works very well together.
